Ganache-cli: Handling of pending blocks and pending transactions is broken

[monokh]

• I asked about this on gitter:
• Link to my question on gitter: https://gitter.im/ConsenSys/truffle?at=5a67cd2f0ad3e04b1b5ddd88

Expected Behavior

Calling eth_getTransactionByHash for a transaction hash that is pending (not included in a block) on the ganache node should return the given transaction.

This is the behaviour that a full node (geth, parity) follows

Current Behavior

The call to eth_getTransactionByHash for a pending transaction returns null

Steps to Reproduce (for bugs)

1. Run ganache with a custom block time: ganache-cli -b 30
2. Send transaction: tx = web3.eth.sendTransaction({'from': '0x', 'to': '0x', 'value': 1})
3. Retrieve this pending transaction by ID web3.eth.getTransaction(tx)
4. Returns null

Context

@ https://github.com/ethereum/web3.py/issues/492 we are looking at providing an API for resending transactions. To do this we rely on being able to read pending transaction details. I was using ganache-cli to test this behaviour and noticed this issue. It doesn't really block our development though as web3py uses another test node: https://github.com/pipermerriam/eth-testrpc

Your Environment

• Version used: v6.0.3 (ganache-core: 2.0.2)
• NodeJS Version: 9.x
• Operating System and version (include distro if Linux): Mac OS High Sierra

[benjamincburns]

Hi @monokh this is actually a known issue, though I keep forgetting to actually raise an issue for it - thanks for doing that!

We actually don't handle pending blocks very well, either. I've retitled this ticket and I'll do my best to address it, though I think it's a lower priority at the moment as compared to some other issues. As a result, a PR from the community would be excellent!

[benjamincburns]

Actually, fixing this might make for a good bounty case! I'll discuss with the team.

[AnthonyBroadCrawford]

@benjamincburns is it possible if I fix this issue? I'm new, and this has a "good first time contribution tag". That okay?

[jinchung]

Hi, has there been any progress made on this, from the community or otherwise?

[benjamincburns]

I'd advise against fixing this at the moment, as I'm presently doing a fairly major refactoring of the ganache-core internals. I expect this issue will be mostly fixed by this refactoring, however, as we'll have an actual "pending block" containing pending transactions at that time.

[jackkleeman]

Any progress on this?

[Bat-Orshikh]

Is there any news on this one?

[0xKiwi]

Any updates on this?

[davidmurdoch]

@IvanTheGreatDev The PR for this issue is currently in code review. It'll be fixed very soon!

[ccowell]

@IvanTheGreatDev The code was merged into develop and will be released soon.